Peter, where is "ALCO" we miss him over here in Massachusetts, I would imagine he would be helping you in some way Testing the seats to determine which are "shot" or doing something. Also we were wondering what the status was on that Blue and yellow Santa Fe Switcher you unloaded off the flat car last year. Does it run?, is that Prime Mover that was on the flat with it belong to that Santa Fe switcher? Finally has there been any talk about the "main Street" project that was written up several years ago that discussed erecting a vintage gas station, and other buildings to allow the museum stay open longer during the year. Kindly relay these questions to who ever can answer them for us here in Massachusetts, Thank you and please give "Alco", an extra helping of Tuna , for us- Michael Eisenberg

Hi Michael,
I will try to take a stab at some of your questions, and hope that others will chime in with more specific answers.
Sadly, ALCO has not been seen for a while and must be considered missing in action. He was just so darn friendly. I would be applying paint or lettering, concentrating on the task, and he would jump up on my shoulders, or stick his nose in the can to see that the paint was mixed. Even needle chipping rust would not discourage his curiosity. I can only guess he followed some family with kids into their car and to a better home.
Now, in Barn 4, Mr Socks is the cat mascot and he still is there as the resident mouse catcher. But he is the more typical 'fraidy cat' and tolerates people as a necessary evil to the cat life, but not nearly so friendly and curious.
The Santa Fe locomotive does not run.
The Main Street project remains a dream for IRM. To develop this would require a lot of money, perhaps start with a million, to develop the infrastructure, drainage, permits, streets, and utilities before the first small building could be sited there and opened.
Bob Kutella

Thank you for the feed back Peter, sorry to hear about Alco, we hope he is doing well where ever he is . I have not been to the museum for several years,and from what I have seen on your internet blogs over there, I'm glad you are starting to rebuild the Neon railroad signs, they make the place more inviting for visitors, would like an update over the next few months or so on how the steam department is doing on UP 423? and the Frisco and Shay steamers in their rebuilds.
We will miss ALCO, but we will always have his pictures to look at stay well and good luck on your 2010 season -Michael Eisenberg

I guess I should change my name to Peter, Michael. But I think you are replying to me instead and commenting on a post I made. These blog entries and news efforts are strictly voluntary by our members and I can testify that it takes some time every week to take some photos, and post such entries.
As to the steam department they apparently choose not to post on our main website (why?) and have started their own private web page. But it also does not see regular updates.
The three active projects in the steam shop are the Frisco 1630, the Shay, and the UP 428, in roughly that order. See comments about such that I made at the end of my Wood Shop Update - April 18, 2010 on this Blog site.
Bob Kutella

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